Sub-underground music from the last five or so decades

One of the most satisfying and consistent releases of 2012 so far is “Circles” by MOON DUO. I know, right? I’d about given up on Ripley Johnson after his Wooden Shjips albums continued to fall short of the the early promise of those amazing 45s, and paid a cursory passing interest in Moon Duo when they started up and found it to be progressive/psych twaddle-wank. With all due respect, of course! (And he is due quite a bit for those Shjips records). Maybe I should revisit that stuff, or maybe they evolved toward me in an effort to curry my favor.

In any case, this record is fantastic. Moon Duo are now deeply into Stereolab territory, with a dose of heavy psych and a thin veneer of krautrock. Each song bend and shapes multiple riffs into submission, never tiring and never boring. It’s approachable to all but the most fearful of listeners – a “pop” record coming from deep lysergic territory. It’s listenable over on Spotify for $0.00 if you wanna check it out.